Mostly Nyx PoV. One Tav PoV half-way.

They barrelled out of the tavern, Astarion and Karlach in the lead. If Nyx didn't know better, she would have thought they were hacking up hairballs like Scratch and Bean. Mercifully, the plumes of gas rolled out of the doors after the others, allowing her to keep her distance while hacking up her own lungs from the safety of the roof. She steeled herself and breathed through it, regaining control of her faculties.

Yuck. Where did I put my backpack?

She was certain she would have something in there to combat the lingering revulsion in her body. A final shiver ran down her spine and she shook out her limbs.

Goodness. Let's not do that again.

Below the others make comments to the same effect.

---

Nyx trailed behind the others at a leisurely pace. Scheming, plotting and planning. She couldn't determine how to get rid of the Nightwalker. Nyala and Shroud were fresh out of ideas too. Nyx walked out of tavern roof and flited to the building one block over. Her feet barely set foot upon the it when her magic hackles rose at once to stand on end and her stomach made backflips. She promptly vaulted down to the loose cobblestones, scowling up at the House of Healing while they continued to make their way toward the graveyard.

A child's voice jarred her out of her musing, coming from high palisade gates ahead, "Leave her alone!"

Tav gasped, "Arabella? What are you-"

The little boy's voice warned, "Go away bandits!", and Nyx felt the tugging at the Shadowweave.

Nyx bolted to one of the nearby trees, scaling it to assess the situation.

A girl cried out, "Wait Oliver, don't! They're my friends!"

It was too late, shadows grew around Tav and the others, including the children. Weapons flashed and magic primed, but Arabella quickly announced with upward reaching hands, "Twist them up!"

Ethereal thorns sprouted from the ground, ensnaring the shadows and restraining them.

They stared at Arabella - all the adults at least.

Nyx recovered, By the Abyss! How does such a young child gain so much power? And the boy is, cursed? Wait... She scrunched her nose, the boy's face was familiar, Thaniel, yes. The spirit of the land. Graces what happened to him?

Astarion queried exasperated, "Our little idol thief, how did you do that?"

Arabella didn't answer, slouching forward. Strands of hair dangling limply around her face.

Tav prompted with concern, "Arabella?"

Her head snapped up and she panted, "Sorry, takes the wind right out of me."

Oliver remained scowling at Tav and the others.

Arabella continued after taking in the confused expressions, "It started after I stole the idol."

Halsin nodded sagely, "It seems you've received Silvanus' divine gift."

There was a collective, "What?!"

Astarion huffed in a high pitch, "How is that fair? I've never received a blessing for -", he paused and lulled, "Well, repossessing items."

A dry chuckle came from Halsin, and he provided, "It likely had more to do with the intent than the act itself."

Astarion scoffed and Tav interrupted urgently addressing Arabella, "Where are you parents? They weren't at Last Light."

Arabella's smile fell and she replied, hesitating and fretting at her fingernails, "Zevlor he... Mommy said to run after the cultists attacked. So, I ran as fast as I could. They were behind me until they weren't. I've been looking for them ever since."

Tav shared a knowing look with Halsin.

Arabella's face lit up again and she declared excitedly, "You can help me! If anyone can find them it’ll, be you, hero-lady."

Snorts, snickers and comments were made about the 'hero-lady' part.

Oliver glared at Arabella and declared with an accusing finger towards Tav, "Bell, they're not heroes! They are bandits! Killed my family!"

Before Tav could protest Arabella reprimanded him. Fisting her tiny hands and stomping her foot, "Shadows are not family, Oli. We talked about this."

Nyx raised her eyebrows, pressing her lips together, She certainly has her head on straight, and snickered at the abashed expressions all round.

Oliver countered, "They were the only ones who wanted to play before you came. Thaniel is boring and weak.", waving a dismissive hand.

I'm so confused.

Although, Halsin stooped to one knee, he remained towering over the children. He addressed Oliver calmly, "Thaniel is sick, and he needs your help."

"I don't need Thaniel.", Oliver crossed his arms, looking away and puffing out his cheeks.

Halsin implored, amusement in his voice, "He is the closest thing to family you have. You can help him, protect him and once he is better, I'm sure he'll want to play."

Arabella second Halsin's opinion, her face drawn into a determined expression, "Thaniel is your twin, Oli. You can't abandon him. He is your real family. 'Family sticks together, no matter what.'"

A silent sadness settled between the group at the last statement.

Tav pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Halsin rose and suggested with an upturned hand, "We could split up? I'll help escort the children back to Last Light, while you continue... with the, search."

Karlach, Wyll and Lae'zel volunteered to go with Halsin.

Tav chewed her lip and nodded once. She turned to Oliver and queried, "Oliver, would you be able to help us too?"

He pretended to think it over. Arabella gave him a pointed look, fisting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot. He grinned, more to himself than anyone else, and prompted, "Okay."

"We are looking for our friend. She is, like you. Do you know how we can find her?"

Oliver scrunched his nose and effortlessly looked Nyx straight in the eyes. Nyx froze in place, holding her breath then shook her head at him. A sly little smile crept onto his face, and he chortled, "She's already found you."

Several frowns were directed at Nyx's hiding place.

Oh, you're such a rascal, Nyx glared at his smug expression, They still can't see me though. She leaned leisurely against the tree trunk instead, crossing her arms, indifferent to being told on.

Tav didn't press the issue and confirmed with the others to rendezvous before dark at the Mason's Guild. The official send off, included waves and smiles from Arabella and Oliver - matched by most of the remaining group.

----

Astarion scoffed, "You're seriously considering searching for her parents. They are dead, my dear. We all know it."

Tav, Shadowheart and Gale glared at him.

Gale answered, "We can at least try."

Astarion complained, "What we ought to try is reaching the tomb. Everything points to it being the key to unlocking this whole debacle."

Tav negotiated for a comprise, "Let's give it the rest of the morning. If we don't find anything, then we'll start clearing out the graveyard to the tomb."

Astarion sighed dramatically and gestured dismissively, "Fine."

Of all places, why?

Nyx ran her hands over her face. Tav proclaimed that they've pretty much canvased the rest of the town and all that remains was the House of Healing, other than the graveyard.

Nyx blew out an exasperated breath, gathered her resolve and spotted an open window on the top floor while the others made their way through the front entrance.

Gale remarked in the gloom, "This place gives creepy a whole new meaning."

The House of Healing, Nyx scoffed from the rafters overhead, Is anything but.

Not only was she assaulted with the malice that drenched the corporeal and incorporeal aspects of this place, but its patients' memories wanted to desperately cling to her. They died in horrendous torment that no one should ever have to experience. Their shadows have seeped into the very building because of it. Nyx could sense their last haunted moments as though living within the walls itself. Sustained by centuries of curse and abuse.

Note to self, refrain from touching anything.

Shadowheart took in the state of the floors, "Do we really want to find out why there is fresh blood on the tiles?"

Tav visibly shuddered, "I don't like it either. Weapons and magic ready, this place reeks of death. In more ways than one."

Astarion quipped, "Let's make it quick, shall we?"

Nyx followed their progress form the rafters or the roof, through several hallways and rooms between the top floor. The hospital was literally the worst for wear, more so than anything else in town. Nyx had to reinforce her mental wards against the magic laced memories that threatened to overwhelm her as they ventured deeper into the structure.

Some of the memories would materialize; wails, screams and pleas echoed abruptly along the corridors.

"Mother of Magic! What kind of a hospital is this?"

Tav stood still for a moment, subtly reaching out to the distressed and disturbed harmonies surrounding them. Attempting to soothe them, but she whispered in dismay, "So many people", and spoke a prayer instead, "Tymora, pull at the threads of fate to grant them relief from their suffering."

Something didn't appreciate Tav's heartfelt appeal. Nyx's breath became visible in front of her mouth and the shadows literally dripped from the walls. With it came a voice - another memory.

"Sister Lidwin," the educated man stated reproachfully with forced composure, "You shall not appeal to any other god or goddess other than our Lady Darkness."

The shadows loomed against the walls, gathering next to Tav and outlined a tall figure. Tav shivered reaching for Gale's hand while they readied themselves for battle. However, it simply continued its chastising, "Not in my house. I grow weary of your insistent pursuit at comforting the sick, old and dying."

Tav's anger flared, and she countered, "You. You're the one who killed all these people." Gesturing around the room at the ancient, black-bloodied cots, stained mattresses and soiled beds. The shadows pressed in from the walls of the decaying and crumbling infirmary. Another memory floated down to Tav, settling next to her, yet unthreatening for some reason. Tav’s accusations continued, "How can you prey on people at their most vulnerable and weak? How can you call yourself a healer?" Tav's voice became overlaid with one not her own. Sister Lidwin sneered in unison with Tav, "You're a disgrace to y(our) profession."

The shade tutted at her and sighed, looking away for a moment, "The Selunite corruption runs deep within you still. Not to worry, I'll excise the poison yet. Considering that you used all my precious anaesthetics meant to numb my ears to their screaming, I'll be sure to remove your insolence without any."

They readied their weapons, but the shade dispersed instead. Wafting into a swirl of blue-green mist. Silhouettes flickered against the mist and screams pierced their ears. Punctuated by sickening sounds of implements been driven into flesh, wet sounds of tearing limbs and the snapping of breaking bones. The apparition of Mallus Thorm's pathology carved the memory of Sister Lidwin into agonizing pieces, they could only look on in helpless dread. All the while Mallus Thorm recited praises to the Lady of Pain and Loss, calling on her to usher Sister Lidwin into the Shadowfell's final empty embrace.

Nyx closed her eyes and blocked out the screaming, it was stirring up her own memories - the night of the drow attack on her farmstead.

Graces, the screams.

She meditated lightly through it.

Tears of fury and anguish streamed down Tav's face. The others, too, were deeply disturbed after witnessing the pure, malevolent intent with which Mallus Thorm treated his staff and patients. Nyx sensed glimpses of more. Distance whispers down the corridors playing scenes of how a House of Healing became a House of Horror. History revealed itself from the dark.

Ketheric Thorm was seated at a large desk, weeping into the pages of an open journal. Its freshly inked sentences billowing out to stain the page. He looked up to Mallus and in a rasping voice agreed to renounce Selune after Mallus promised him a way to resurrect his daughter, lost not long after his wife's death. Mallus, suspected to be a Sharran follower already, appealed to his nephew's grief when it was at its peak, beckoning him towards the Dark Lady.

Promptly after, Mallus turned away non-Sharrans from the hospital's door, instructing his staff to reserve the best supplies and care for the Dark Justiciar army being raised in Shar's name. Multiple memories flashed. The descent into cruelty and the fervent religious justifications; non-Sharrans weren't turned away anymore - rather used as specimens for study. Their bodies laid out on Mallus' surgical tables, taken apart under the pretence of finding a way to resurrect the dead himself using the Shadowweave. But it wasn't enough to satisfy his mad desire to kill in the name of his Goddess, or the false justifications that drove it. Soon everyone became a candidate to be 'converted' through vivisection.

Mallus lost himself completely to his unquenchable lust to inflict pain.

Gale's voice dispelled the drifting whispers of memories. He was tugging at Tav's arm, spooked he suggested hastily, "I think it's about time to get some air. Take a break, outside - preferably away - not here."

He practically dragged Tav to the closest door and the rest of them, including Nyx, were anxious to follow.

---

They caught their breath outside in an enclosed and dilapidated courtyard. Tav was seated on a bench, fatigue marring her features while Gale fussed over her, mumbling theories of how she had likely channelled Sister Lidwin a few moments ago - or what remained of her essence.

Astarion was scowling at receding doors opposite the courtyard, while Shadowheart was working through her own remaining distress.

I don't understand how Shadowheart is Sharran. She could be cold and standoffish at times, but nothing like this... this place or its worshippers. How easily and willingly so many of them descended into cruelty.

Colour returned to Tav under Gale's efforts and potions. He sighed loudly, "Thank Mystra. Please don't do that again."

Tav chuckled darkly, "I don't want a repeat performance of that either."

Astarion prompted, "Can we leave now?", Tav shook her head, and he huffed, "Well, you're on your own if you plan to go in there."

Their gaze followed his pointing to the doors across the courtyard. A rusted embossed plaque read, 'Mortuary'.

Shadowheart nodded once, "I concur, let's not wake whatever dead resulted from the 'procedures' conducted here", her ponytail swayed when she turned to glare back at the House of Healing.

Gale hmmed, "A wise decision."

He helped Tav to her feet, who agreed with the previous sentiments, "If we don't find Arabella's parents in the hospital, I'd say it's safe to assume they are among the dead."

Nyx took a deep breath of relief.

----

Nyx already knew what lay beyond the large doors at the back of the hospital. The search for Arabella's parents had reached it natural end. Nyx dearly hoped it wouldn’t include theirs too.

Astarion tilted his head toward the door and remarked, "Voices from the other side."

Tav queried, "Can you make out how many and what they are saying?"

He closed his eyes, "Sounds like a... lecture?", he frowned looking back at Tav and shrugged. He stiffened for a moment, eyes widening and provided, "I think the doctor may be in surgery."

The others gasped and Gale asked urgently, "You mean Mallus is in there, still alive?"

Shadowheart said, "Likely another cursed Thorm."

Tav and Gale nodded sagely. Tav set her jaw in determination and announced, "I don't plan on Arabella's parents becoming his next victims", and she barged in through the doors before anyone could stop her.

"By the Abyss!", Nyx swore under her breath and hurried along to the top floor doors.

It was a large circular room; part lecture hall, part surgical theatre. Two levels of seating on either side. More seating circled the room on both the ground floor and the top floor. Nyx surveyed the room from her elevated balcony. Old discarded white boards were scattered among cabinets, gurneys, desks, surgical machinery, tools - and the bodies of undead sisters. Their nurse uniforms tattered, grey and soaked in blood as they lay lifeless on the floor themselves.

A measured intonation illustrated Mallus Thorm to be both giving a lecture and performing surgery, "The objective of the scalpel, sisters, is to soothe, for a scalpel, indeed, is an extension of Shar."

He had literally become a shadow of the man Nyx had gleaned in the cursed memories.

Augmented arms and legs sprouted from his torso with gleaming rivets, bolts, plates and joints. Malformed limbs were affixed to his body, likely by himself. The limbs were elongated through flesh extensions, crudely stitched together and attached with metallic parts. He had made adjustments to his face as well; stitches crisscrossed his face and a set of black surgical glasses sporting multiple magnifying lenses had replaced his eyes. He mirrored the state in which he left his victims, deformed and almost unrecognizable. Though he spoke in a calm manner, instructing his undead assistants with the patience and decorum he lacked in his last living days.

Tav was fuming, her fists at her sides after seeing the bloodied man; laid bare for mutilation on top of a surgical table surrounded by Mallus and his dutiful Sisters. Tav's voice projected across the room, "Mallus Thorm, stop this madness immediately! Have you lost all sense of humanity and remorse?"

I don't think he ever had those to begin with.

Mallus Thorm rose to his full height, twice that of the sisters. The shape of his feet and their joints reminded Nyx of those who had suffered from polio, as he stood on his toes. He made a welcoming swoop with his mechanical arms that truncated into thin and sharp sickle-like fingers. Beckoning them closer he said, "Every student is encouraged to learn no matter their experience. Come come, watch how the patient reacts when I but stroke the right nerve. Hear its comfort. Hear the very melody of mercy."

Nyx lost track of the rest of the conversation when Sister Lidwin's memory appeared by her side. Nyx took a step back when it materialized, and Sister Lidwin's ghost stood before her. Fortunately, she resembled her former self, whole and uninjured. She smiled at Nyx but spoke gravely, "You cannot allow him to lay one blade on them. You need to stop him. He continues to torture us all, not just the living, but the dead too, even after death."

Nyx recovered, regarding Mallus for a moment. The Shadowfell seemed to hold him together and she observed, "He is immensely powerful, I'd risk the other's lives with the amount of power I would have to use."

Sister Lidwin shook her head vigorously, the fabric of her nurse's veil whipped around her face, "They will die by his hand if you do not kill him first. They are strong yes, but they cannot stand up to him here. Not once he had sunk a blade into them."

Nyx gaped taken aback. The Sister proceeded to make her appeal more forcefully. Nyx gritted her teeth, holding onto her head as the memories of his other victims' final moments assaulted her at once.

Sister Lidwin said, "He will do far worse to them than he did to us."

Nyx's mental defences flared, and she shoved the memories away, making the Sister stumble backwards. Nyx snarled at her, "Get out of my head… He will not have them."

The conversation below was taking a poor turn.

Astarion breathed with contempt, "He's like Cazador - utterly insane."

Gale remarked, "A horrifying nightmare. It needs to end."

Nyx's directed her magic with one hand as one of the undead Sister's blades came down on the man strapped to the surgical table. The assistant struggled against the magic, but Nyx heldfast.

Mallus addressed one of the other undead, "Come, sister, let's us marvel in the beneficence you can bestow."

"No more", Nyx demanded in an even, but dangerous tone.

"Nyx?", Tav and the other three's voices asked in tandem, somewhere out of sight on the floor directly below.

Mallus' nonsensical recitals continued, directed at Nyx, "Behold, sisters, the very face of ignorance - another who mistakes tenderness for torture. Go on. Acquaint them with the true object of our studies."

The sisters chanted, "Absence."

Mallus repeated, revelling in the word, "Absence. No other word captures the heart of Shar so very perfectly."

Nyx's hackles rose and she snarled at Mallus, "I will not witness one more death by your hands."

He snatched at her words using them to fuel his reasoning, "See? What is the light of eyes but the cancer that causes one to witness the laceration of being? If the light is the symptom, then darkness is the cure, for in light there is presence, but in darkness there is absence.", and he leaned over to the man, claws reaching toward his face.

Nyx magically gripped his hand as well, it strained mid-air as she prevented him from stabbing the man's eyes out. She spat, "I said no more."

--- --- ---

The hair on the back of Tav’s neck stood on ends when Nyx’s magic lashed out against Mallus and the nurses. Bodily flinging them across the auditorium, sending them crashing to opposite ends of the room. She stared after, but Nyx shadow stepped into her view.

Nyx’s eyes were disconcertingly black again, and the liquid ink coursed over her arms, flowing down to her hands and extending into claws longer than Mallus’. However, she seemed more Nyx than before.

Nyx smiled warmly, her gaze falling on each of them briefly, lingering a moment longer on Astarion. She spoke plainly, “Make them quake in the light. Remind them of life. Be the presence they so deeply despise.”

Tav swallowed wide eyed when Nyx’s magic swelled to make the point. It brimmed around them and a small knowing smirk quirked at Nyx’s lips. The smile fell and she spoke in all seriousness again, “Leave him to me. Don’t let him cut you.”

Tav blinked and Nyx was gone in a swirl of shadow, already magically wrestling with Mallus at one side of the auditorium.

The nurses shambled to their feet, and those closest motioned toward Nyx.

--- --- ---

“Absence”, the sister breathed somewhere behind Nyx. Nyx's force magic locked on Mallus’ metallic arms; she heaved him around so that her back was against the panelled wall. Mallus continued his prattling, “This flesh should be flayed. Sister, bring the next instrument.” The nurse ambled towards him, bone-saw in hand.

Astarion’s arrows pierced the air, planting three into the nurse's body. Her head rocked backwards, and she took a step back. Arrows protruding from her head and neck didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest, subsequently more arrows joined the others until she stopped moving.

Mallus’ legs bent the wrong way on their mechanical joints, and he levelled a kick squarely into Nyx’s chest, driving her into the wooden panels behind. He pinned her there with one leg. The blow made her choke for breath, and she barely had enough time to notice the three-bladed sickles flash. She yanked on a thread of chaos magic.

“Incendé!”, light roared through the darkness. The nurses across the room cried out in agony, the other nurses not in the firing line, including Mallus, flailed as the radiance spell distributed shadows that have long forgotten the power of light.

Unfortunately, the light was a hazard to Nyx as well. She threw her magic against the ripples of light created in the curse, dismantling the aftereffects that threatened to shake her core as well, like a rock thrown into a still, dark lake.

Mallus recovered and called upon his ‘lovely assistants’, several of their corpses rose from the dead.

Abyss take you!

He turned and swung his arms at her, one’s claw had been replaced with a frighteningly oversized surgical instrument. Nyx timed her movements, increased the distance between them, primed her magic and intercepted the massive, serrated blade. Her force magic clung to its metal while her chaos magic took it apart, shaving pieces from the blade itself. Whatever metal it was constructed from was stubborn as hell, giving away only in slivers at a time. She wrestled with Mallus over the blade.

“Ardē”, Gale hurled fire at the sisters. The resulting impact was a thunderous explosion of heat and flame. Nyx literally felt the nurses wail and die, after the magic tore through the curse once more. The damp rotted wood of the auditorium didn’t hold the fire for long and they were plunged back into darkness again.

Nyx sidestepped another attempt by Mallus to hack at her with his free arm, but she merely used his momentum against him. Keeping a firm grip on his disintegrating arm, while avoiding the other.

Mallus’ legs contorted, leaning his body forward into the disintegrating arm. His mechanical feet dug into the floorboards. He bodily drove Nyx backwards along the tiered auditorium's corridor. Nyx lost grip on the blade when she tripped over something, falling backwards. The connecting smell suggested it to be one of the dead sisters. There wasn’t time for even a moment of disgust. Nyx balled herself up and dodged stampeding feet as Mallus continued forward, nearly trampling her where she lay.

His whole body contorted then, limbs reversing on their joints and a jerky backwards swivel brought him to stand over her in quick succession. The massive blunt blade pulling back to strike.

Nyx parried the blow away from her heart and it sank straight through her shoulder almost impaling her into the floor. She cried out as pain and fear gripped her at body.

His blades are contaminated with the Shadowcurse!

Her mental defences drove the fear from her mind. Her force magic pushed the curse from her body through her gushing wound, and she willed the resulting pain into sharpening her focus. A directed blow with her hand against the weakest part of the blade broke it off with a jagged edge. Another upwards boom of her power sent Mallus stumbling backwards. She sat up and ripped the broken blade from her shoulder. Blood poured from the wound along with its remaining curse. Standing proved difficult; her limbs were numb with pain.

Shadowheart's healing spells reached her and another wave of relief lifted the pain from her body, sealing the wound. Then came Tav’s song, swelling with emotion, it alone magically heaved Nyx to her feet. The song carried a strange, enraged elation. Regardless Nyx was grateful to have it.

Mallus recovered from a battering of spells by Gale and Shadowheart, along with the rain of Astarion’s arrows and Tav’s bolts. Standing, a clawed hand reached into the air, and he called to his ‘lovely assistants’. They rose once more.

By the Abyss! Time to end the never-ending nightmare. 

She gathered more of her power, wrapping them in layers of pain, fisting it into her hands. She charged at his still extended legs; he had used the height advantage to send his magic over the auditorium to the nurses. Their collision sent him sprawling. Nyx locked his free arm in hers, restraining the claw at the wrist using one hand. Before he could attempt to impale her with what remained of the broken blade, she magically undid the bolts in his torso and viciously tore the clawed limb from his body. She cast it aside with a rolling clunk while he recited prayers to Shar anew, announcing his arrival to her absence. Decaying arms wrapped around Nyx’s neck and waist. She struggled against two Sisters, each trying to inject her with gods-knows-what. Mallus made it to his feet. Nyx magically pressed against the needles, bending them away - desperation gripping at her stomach while Mallus approach limping, dragging the broken blade behind him.

Nyx assumed the adrenaline and pain caused her to mistake one of Gale’s spells for an Eldritch Blast - until it connected with the Sisters holding her. Nyx wrenched herself from their dying grip and her own claws extended. She slashed their bodies open from gullet to gut, subsequently more of Wyll‘s spells finished them off.

Karlach’s rage was accompanied by Lae’zel’s battle cry, both rushing up the tiered auditorium’s corridors while Nyx dodged Mallus’ broken swinging blade. Karlach's giant hammer connected with his legs in a wide sweeping arc, toppling him and he crashed back to the floor. Karlach proceeded to pulverize the lower limbs using all her hellion might, metallic pieces flung from mangled limbs. Nyx tore the last arm from his body. Lae’zel’s great sword gleamed from the light of multiple spells, and she brought it down on his neck.

However, even decapitated Mallus’ recitals continued, "In light is presence, in darkness, absence." Nyx gathered her dual magic between her hands and levelled outstretched palms at his face. She sent him off with a final farewell, “May you walk in the light.”

What remained of Mallus oozed into the rotten floorboards.

Phew, this was challenging - and disturbing... but good practise for several Act 3 scenes I suppose.